Time Out

It was one of those days where she was whining from the moment she got up until she went down for a nap.  Nothing I did would please her.  My daughter was now 3 and the whining stage had begun.  It was so rough that I found myself burning inside with the urge to scream.  I came out of my shell and told her: “go to your room, mommy needs a time-out.”  I literally took a time-out for myself.  My daughter went into her room, as she kept whining, and I went into my own room to breathe. I thought the madness would never end.  I can’t handle the whining and part of it is my fault because I have to learn to work with my daughter. And although not to accept her whining, I still need to allow her to express herself and give her some time to settle down and relax. 

“Be still and rest in the Lord; wait for him and patiently lean yourself upon him…” (Psalm 37:7). It is in that still moment that we are able to be replenished in the Lord.  So I prayed and I asked God to help me get through the day.  As I was in my room, my daughter got upset because I was now in a time-out. She then knew that she needed to settle herself down before she received mommy’s attention.  Once I composed myself, she settled down, and then we were able to resume our day with less whining.  At that point, she understood that if she didn’t calm down, she would need to go back into her room.

Allow yourself as a mommy to take a time out; it is totally okay and it’s healthy.  Make sure your child is in a safe place and allow yourself to breathe.  As much as our children need timeouts to allow themselves time to think about their actions, we need one too.  Sometimes if we don’t take a time out and stop feeding into the madness, we get overwhelmed with the negativity and in turn, take our actions to a foolish state of mind that will make matters worse.  Taking that extra time to yourself will allow you to get composure and rethink what the punishment should be, if any. Then when going back into ‘the real world,’ you are somewhat replenished.  Give yourself a time out, reload, and set yourself up for a positive outcome!